The Days of Solomon Gursky by Ian McDonald
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I first read this 25 years ago in an anthology I still have to this day. I had read a lot of short fiction by that time, as well as a mountain of SF novels.

I'm happy to say that this random little story from over two decades ago has done a better job of immortalizing itself to me than any other. Few have shone as brightly as this one. Indeed, I might say this one is my absolute favorite short SF of all time.


Sure, some older SF authors might have touched on the same overall theme and some later authors will have done the same, but this one has everything I love most.

Back in '98, nanotech was still shiny, but what never goes out of style is a good tale: all the love, immortality, sheer unrestrained originality, time, and memory.

It's a densely crafted tale that sets up the seven days of Solomon Grundy, only hard-SF -- and it's full of heart. It rejects the idea that immortality kills love. There's a lot more going on in it than is obvious in even two reads.


I'll be honest here: if I had any way to immortalize this story, make sure everyone in the universe reads it, gets it under their skin, then I would be a very happy man. If any story should not be forgotten, if it should have many, many reprints, then it ought to be this one.



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